


Why are Kingdoms always good and Empires always evil?

by typingnoises



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Siblings, Arthur is a girl, Bad Parenting, Caring Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Gen, I promise, I wouldn't say this is graphic but there is descriptions of violence, Merlin is Older than Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Modern Era, One Shot, Protective Merlin (Merlin), Protective Siblings, Siblings, it's wholesome, mentions of past violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:21:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22088557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/typingnoises/pseuds/typingnoises
Summary: "It's because it's easier to care for a small amount of people than it is for thousands of people. Too many people have conflicting opinions," he repliedHis sister swung her feet back and forth on the edge of the pier. She looked into the cold water below as if looking for a glimmer of gold beneath the mud and gravel. She found it a bit had to believe that an empire could never survive. She couldn't explain why she felt that way, but she brushes it off; she'll get it when she's older."You know there is one exception," mentioned her brother.Her interest piques, "Who?""King Arthur."
Kudos: 23





	Why are Kingdoms always good and Empires always evil?

"Why are kingdoms always good and empires always evil?" asked the little girl.

Her brother sat beside her on a short pier overlooking a lake. The young man was somewhat in his late teens with eyes that told stories of a thousand years. His his hair was dark as a raven's and his young face was worn from time. His shoulders sunk in as if his body carried the weight of the world and perhaps more. Although, his lips smiled like it had grown with the burden, having accepted it as his own.

He looked at the bright girl, his sister, with adoration of her curiosity. She held her chest high and held a sort of confidence he couldn't stand at times. 

The sun radiates from her eyes, and when she beamed at you she could instill a sense of hope you didn't realize you've lost. This happened when she met new people, or held a classmate's hand when they crossed the street. Her brother envied her indiscriminate endearment(especially at her young age), but his pride in her always trumped his negativity.

He replied, "It's because it's easier to care for a small amount of people than it is for thousands of people. Too many people have conflicting opinions".

His sister swung her feet back and forth on the edge of the pier. She looked into the cold water below as if looking for a glimmer of gold beneath the mud and gravel. She found it a bit had to believe that an empire could never survive. She couldn't explain why she felt that way, but whatever, she'll get it when she's older.

"You know there is one exception," mentioned her brother.

Her interest piques, "Who?"

"King Arthur," he replied dramatically, making an animated stabby sword movement with his arm. The girl laughs.

"He is said to have ruled all of Britian at one point," he young man said gesturing all around him, "He started as a prince of a small kingdom. He learned compassion and bravery before he learned how to use a weapon".

The girl grinned at her brother's storytelling. He had always shared stories with her about magical creatures and adventures from long ago. He had offered an escape to a her when their parents fought on the front lawn.

"Many knew him as the great compromiser, to some a loyal friend, and to most a fierce warrior king. Ready to defend the innocent and aid the needy".

The young man looks into the enchanted girl's bright eyes. She could see it. The green vivid hills just beyond a castle, the pounding of horse hooves against stone. A path leading to a busy village where she could hear laughter of boys playing with sticks and giggles of girls playing in a nearby stream.

She could feel the weight of armor on her shoulders. She felt comfort at the general contentedness of the village. A content she hadn't felt since she left their parents.

"Arthur knew right from wrong, much like you, long before he became an emperor. In fact, he wasn't really the sovereign of the country, more like a figure of their unity and hope," he said, "he shared his power, sought equality". 

Suddenly the weariness on the brother's face drained ad left behind a distracted grin. He enjoyed telling these stories to Adaline, every story was a good memory to him, every single one. 

He continues, "he always prioritized helping others over his own gain, which he had little of in the form of money or riches. He simply enjoyed helping people. Those were his riches." 

The golden haired girl listened intently. She saw herself walking down a dirt path with her brother by her side, approaching a grave that read her parents names. Adaline wished she could help them, she would have given anything so save their relationship. The girl wanted her father to stop hitting her and start hugging her, like a normal parent. Adaline wanted her mother to stop disappearing for days time and let her brother go to college instead working to feed his little sister.

Merlowe, her brother, noticed the happiness fade from her face and knew exactly what she was thinking of. It had been a week and four days since the court proceeding went through and Merlowe got custody of his sister. There parents were now serving jail time for child abuse and other unrelated crimes. It was just them in the house full of foreboding memories. He was glad their father was locked up. He shutters when he remembers the time he relocated Adaline's bed to his room to make sure his drunk father didn't try anything with her. Or even the time he had to hide his food money to stop his father from gambling it off. 

"Hey. It's alright." he assures, putting his arm on her shoulder.

They sit in silence for a bit, watching the wind blow through the trees and the ripples on the water reflecting the morning sun rays. 

She replies, "Isn't that what you call me?"

"What?" asks Merlowe forgetting what the topic of the conversation was.

She affirms, "You say I'm always there to help people".

He adds, "Even when you probably shouldn't".

His joking expression faded back into the weary face of a man who held the world on his shoulders. He chuckles, his sister's words reminded him of someone from another life.

"Well," he finishes as he steps up from the edge of the pier. Dawn had ran its course and the sky returned its brilliant blue, "I think that's enough for today".

The brother lifted his sister onto his shoulders then turned to walk off the pier. Her weight bearing on his frame. She enjoyed being carried like this, knowing someone supported her. She felt like she could take on the world with her brother holding her up in case she topple, as if he'd let her topple that is.

"Merlowe?" she asked.

"Yes Adaline?"

"I wanna be like him, the good emperor, the good king."

"You mean Arthur?"

Merlowe replies without thinking. He shouldn't have mentioned Arthur. But he couldn't help but wonder if she knew who she was, and destined to be.

It still remains to the young man that Adaline can't know she's the legendary king. Lest she be toppled over by the pressure of an empire, the very thing so commonly turned evil.

Adaline could rewrite her legend, turn her kingdom into a cruel empire that thrived in the loyal King's absence from the throne.

A Kingdom cares. An Empire sucks the life out of its subjects.

A Kingdom can thrive on contentedness. An Empire provoked greed.

A Kingdom with a loyal king kept the people heard and happy, an Empire with a friend beneath the crown isn't like other empires where one held all power. An empire isn't always evil. As long as Adaline remained Adaline, that would be true.

So instead Merlowe, or rather Merlin, bears her burden on his shoulders. And every now and then he is left to wonder if she remembered anything about her story she would eventually be forced to learn.

She replies, "Yeah. Like Arthur."

He chuckles. She was almost there.

**Author's Note:**

> This is based off a prompt from r/writingprompts on Reddit. There is another version of this story posted there under my same username. In case it wasn't clear, Adaline is Arthur and Merlowe is Merlin. If your curious Marlowe is 19 and Adaline is 7, so a large age difference. It had to be this way in order for Merlin to get custody of Adaline to escape their father. This is mainly because Marlowe was a teenage pregnancy and Adaline was an accident(because their parents suck). Thank you for reading!


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